Alexa Canady

Alexa Canady became the first black female neurosurgeon and at 36 was named chief of neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Michigan. She was director of neurosurgery at Children's Hospital in Detroit before retiring. She was born in 1950 and grew up near Lansing, Mich., where she and her brother were the only two black students at their school. She attended the University of Michigan for undergraduate studies and medical school and completed her surgical residency at Yale University.

— Leslie Fulbright